A Different First Year
by Devy Black
Summary: Harry, Blaise and Draco are starting their first year at Hogwarts. Sequel to 'A Different Beginning'. Severitus fic!
1. The First Day

Mkay, I did it.

This is my view of the boys first day... Starts off five years after 'A Different Beginning'.

Hope you like it and I'll update as soon as I get enough reviews!

Oh! I have a new beta reader and he's great... Told you just in case you'll see the difference ;)

* * *

**A Different First Year: The First Day**

Kings Cross was filled to the brim. In fact, should the impressive set of charms deforming room and space break, ¾ of the Hogwarts' population would be wiped out. And that's when one doesn't include all the muggles, witches and wizards.

A group of magicans was bravely making their way through the station. Well, as bravely as you can while blasting muggles out of the way and trying to confind the officers trying to arrest them. It seemed that only the three boys of the group had escaped unscratched, while their parents looked like a mess.

'Argh! All those damn muggles! I'll have to buy myself a new skin!' a tall blonde swore with his face in a scowl.

'Don't worry.. I'm certain that Severus will give you some of his precious boomslang skin if you ask nicely' mocked his darkhaired companion and guided the boys onward.

Harry, Draco and Blaise had eager looks on their faces as they hurriedly pecked their parents on the cheek and rushed off.

'I am sure they'll be sorted into Slytherin. Or what do you think, Black?' Lucius asked with a sneer that many swore had been on his face from the moment he was born.

'Well.. You never know, you know' smiled Sirius and turned to leave.

'Have a nice year, Malfoy! I know I will, because I can finally have a rest from seeing your ugly face every week!

Goodbye, Lysander!'

* * *

The boys walked through the train until they came upon an empty compartment and settled in.

'It's only a few hours before we're in Hogwarts!' Blaise cheered while hopping into his seat.

The boys hardly looked like they were supposed to start at Hogwarts, being far too short for their age.

'Yeah! I can't wait to finally get there!' laughed Draco.

In his hands rested a small notebook and a beautiful quill.

'You got anything new in there?' asked Harry.

'Nah. Still the same old. I really hope Hogwarts gives me some good ideas.'

Harry nodded and started a chat about the Quidditch mach on the Wireless that morning.

After ten minutes the compartment door opened and a girl with really bushy hair stepped in.

'Sorry, but everywhere else is full! Can I stay here?'

Harry nodded without stopping his conversation with Draco and the girl entered.

Soon the cart with all kinds of treats rolled in and a lady in a fluffy pink dress asked if the children would like anything. After everyone ad a large pile of food they dug in.

'So what's your name?' asked Draco form the girl.

'Hermione Granger'

'Nice to meet you. I am Draco Malfoy and these are my friends: Dem Snape and Blaise Zabini.'

Harry and Blaise nodded at her. 'Hi!'

'My dad works in the Ministry with Blaise's dad. Dem's dad is a Professor at Hogwarts. What do your parents do?'

Hermione smiled brightly and the boys got a glimpse of her extraordinary big front teeth.

'Oh, they are dentists.'

The trio had identical blank faces.

'They are what?' asked Blaise and forgot to close his mouth.

'Dentists!' Hermione told them. Was is possible that the boys knew nothing of muggles?

After a few more moments of blank looks, Draco looked like he finally figured it out.

'Is it something people do in the, you now, Department of Mysteries?'

After seeing Hermiones befuddled face he sneered at her.

'Your parents are muggles!' Blaise spat out.

Hermione was taken aback. She hadn't know it was a bad thing.

Harry first glanced at his best friends, then at Hermione.

'I am sorry for our lack of knowledge about your world. You see, we are purebloods. We had never even met muggles until today at the station! But don't worry. We almost don't care about your heritage. If you're intelligent and fun to be with then you can be our friend!'

This brought a smile on Hermione's face.

'Thank you! Now, tell me everything about the Wizarding World. There's so much that I don't know and I can't wait to learn it all!'

Draco started coughing and Blaise quickly patted him on the back, grinning.

'Well, we can't tell you everything now. It would take too much time and I don't think we could even remember everything there is at the moment. I think it's wize to start with why we're here. Have you ever heard of the four houses?'

Hermione nodded and started going through her bookbag. After a few moments of searching she pulled out a copy of 'Hogwarts: A History'. Blaise groaned loudly and Harry covered his eyes with a dramatic gesture.

'What? Is there something wrong with the book?' asked a startled Hermione and Draco answered her, 'We've been tutored for five years now and this was the book we never really loved as much as the others. Let's just leave it at that. Where would you like to be sorted?' he asked trying to change the subject.

'I have no idea. Honestly! I mean, Gryffindor seems good enough. And Ravenclaw too, of course! There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff either. But I don't know about Slytherin. It's just that the colors seem really ugly and all that 'Boo-I'm-The-Big-Bad-Slytherin' attitude is very annoying. I'd like to skip that oppurtunity! But where do you guys want to get sorted?'

'Slytherin!' they echoed as one.

'Err..'

* * *

Fortunately the conductor chose that exact moment to interrupt them and declare that the train would be arriving in Hogsmeade in a couple of minutes. The group changed into their robes, sorting matter momentarily forgotten. A few moments after changing the train came to a sudden stop, causing Blaise to fall flat on his bum. Everone were still chuckling while walking towards Hagrid, much to Blaise's irritation. They soon learned that he was the one that would take them to the castle. Everyone climbed into the boats ('Three per boat!') and off they were.

Everyone let out a gasp when they saw the castle that would be their home for the next seven years.

* * *

They were standing in front of a pair of huge closed wooden doors that lead to the Great Hall.Harry, Draco and Blaise stood together and looked around, but didn't see Hermione anywhere near. Until Harry heard her. She was standing a few meters away from them, next to a red haired boy, and it looked like she wasn't enjoying herself.

'Well, I don't care what you think of me!'

After the boys had heard these words they went closer to see what was going on. It looked like the red haired boy was making fun of her hair and front teeth. It also looked like Hermione wasn't very happy about it and who could blame her!

Draco took a step closer and stood right in front of the red haired boy. Though the redhead was a lot taller than him, Draco didn't hesitate to confront him.

'Were you making fun of our friend?'

The freckled boy looked around, laughing.

'Mm.. I see now. Red hair, a silly freckled face and hand-me-down robes… You must be a Weasley!' he said, stretching his name out with glee.

Weasley stopped laughing.

'And if I am?'

He wasn't arrogant, more like ashamed really.

Malfoy shrugged.

'I have never thought much of families who have too many children, but not enough money to feed them well. I feel sorry for you, actually. Have a nice day!' he turned his back to Weasley and the doors to the Great Hall opened. A Professor (McGonagall, as they would find out) asked them to step in and the sorting ceremony begun.

* * *

Hermione was sorted into Gryffindor. She looked satisfied with it and the boys smiled at her. It was soon Draco's turn to find out where he belonged.

Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head and everything fell quiet as the hall waited. Inside Draco's head silent words were whispered to him.

'Yes, I see bravery and, oh my – you are one cunning young man! Loyal but sly. I belive you would do well in.. SLYTHERIN!' The last word was shouted loudly to the hall. Professor McGonagall removed the hat from his head and he went to sit with the other Slytherin, leaving his two best fiends standing in the line.

After a few names Professor McGonagall called out 'Demetrius Snape!'. Harry walked from his place and the hat was lowered on his head.

'Ah! Things are complicated with you. You are intelligent, yes! Very brave and tricky too. Why, I haven't had this great a challenge since old Albus Dumbledore himself! Ah, I see now that you would do best in Slytherin. Yes, Slytherin it is! SLYTHERIN!' Harry cheered with Draco as he reached the table. Now they only had to wait for Blaise.

While they waited, a 'Ronald Weasley' was sorted into Gryffindor. Both of them felt sorry for poor Hermione, who now had to share a house with him.

After him came Blaise's turn. After Professor McGonagall put the hat onto his head, he heard it speaking.

'You are one smart boy! Ravenclaw would surely be the best place for you. But, it's not always good to have what's best for you. SLYTHERIN!'

Blaise felt relived. That was too close! He sat down between Harry and Draco and gave them a smile. Here they sat. The Slytherin serperents. The Silver Trio.

* * *

AN: So, everybody, who guessed, that they would be sorted into Slytherin - you were right! RR :)


	2. School starts

Sorry it took so long... I've been busy and my beta's been busy!

But here it is...

* * *

The Slytherins followed their prefect out of the Great Hall and down into the Dungeons. Some tried to remember the turns on the way but couldn't get more than left, right and left imbedded into their brain, because the prefect led them through several walls, paintings and down a couple of staircases. They finally arrived at a corridor. At the end of it was a painting that pictured a serpent wrapped around a huge marble tower.

It hissed, 'Password...' and sneered at the first years, a feat most of them thought to be impossible from a snake.

The prefect looked straight into its eyes and answered coolly,' Salazar's Lair.'

The serpent lost its sneer and gave a slight nod, opening the painting. Behind it was a small corridor that led into the Slytherin common room. The Common Room a beautiful and large hall with a tapestry decorated in green and silver hanging next to the fireplace and a floor that looked to be made of black marble. Two doors lead on from the common room, one for girls and the other one for boys. Harry, Blaise and Draco entered the boy's door and found a round staircase leading down. After coming to a full stop at the bottom, they found a door that had '1st year' written on it in an elegant script. Upon entry they found three beds with their trunks next to them. They fell on them, only having time to mutter 'Thank god for house elves' in a chorus, before falling asleep.

The next morning began with a crash. The boys had all slept in and were running towards the Transfiguration classroom. From what Severus had told them, professor McGonagall was not one to fool around. He had been right. First, she snapped at them for being late, and then continued insulting them throughout the class.

'Mr. Snape, I do believe you are not paying attention!'

Harry, who had been listening the whole time, looked up to meet her eyes. They were burning with deep dislike and Harry had the feeling that she hated him. But why?

'I'm sorry, Professor, but I actually was!'

She raised her eyebrows. It was the second time during her teaching years that a student had dared to say anything back at her.

Severus had been the first one.

'Well, what were we talking about, then?'

'You were explaining the difficulties of turning something into another, although, I must disagree with you, Professor! I don't think turning a match into a needle is very complicated at all! Actually, I must say it's rather easy!'

McGonagall's lips turned into a razor-thin line as she gave Harry a match. Harry took it and pointed his wand on it.

'Mutatio Mucro,' was the spell he muttered, accompanied with a tap on the match. Suddenly the match was no more and in it's place was a silver needle with a sharp end.

McGonagall was honestly astonished, as she had never expected a student to transform something at their first try.

'Very well, Mr. Snape!'

She strolled past him and gave Hermione, a Gryffindor, a match too. After three tries she got the match to become pointy. After four tries the match became silver, just like Harry's. McGonagall smiled and whispered, 'This is amazing! 10 points for Gryffindor!'

Hermione smiled, but then noticed Harry's face and her expression betrayed confusion.

'But Professor! Why didn't Dem get points for our house? He did better than Hermione!'

McGonagall turned around to meet Blaise's disappointed face.

'Mr. Zabini, I think we all agree that Mr. Snape was arrogant and proud. Consider it sheer luck that I'm not taking points away from him!'

Blaise looked like he was going to object, but Draco nudged him to be quiet. After all, it looked like McGonagall didn't like Slytherins and they didn't want to lose any points.

Charms went rather easily. Professor Flitwick didn't favor anybody and so no one complained. He asked Draco for some charms the boys had already learned and was rather impressed with his answers. Then he asked them demonstrate some of their favorite charms and after they did, he was even more impressed.

'You boys certainly are talented!'

Harry blushed at his words and answered, 'But, sir, we still have a lot to learn!'

Professor Flitwick just smiled and mentioned something about him really being his father's son. Harry just smiled and thanked him.

Defense against the Dark Arts was a joke. Professor Quirrel couldn't say a word without stuttering, shivering and peeking over his shoulder. At the beginning of their class he just showed them an iguana, bought on one of his numerous journeys, and asked them to write down everything they knew about the Dark Arts. He was also very interested in Harry. But who wasn't! Apparently, very few had known that Severus had a son.

And finally, double Potions.

Harry smiled proudly, seeing his father stride into the classroom, his black robes billowing behind him so gracefully.

'You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he explained to the class.

Harry was quite impressed with the impression his father had on the other students. His dad's voice had been only a bit louder than a whisper, but still the whole class heard him clearly.

'As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I can tell you, though, that wands aren't everything! I don't expect you to really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses…. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.'

Harry and Blaise exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. Neither of them had ever heard Severus talk like this. Actually, both of them knew very well that Severus highly appreciated wands! Yet now he was mentioning things like 'foolish wand-waving' and 'wands aren't everything'.

Harry let out a chuckle. He actually couldn't imagine his dad without a wand. He wouldn't know what to do!

But it seemed that Severus didn't like his reaction. He looked deep into his son's eyes and asked, 'Mr. Snape! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?'

Harry smiled. It was too easy! 'Well I would say that the Potion would be called the Draught of Living Dead, sir… it's a very powerful sleeping potion!' he added more to the class, than his father.

Severus let a smile cross his lips for a second, so only Harry could see it, 'Very good, Mr. Snape. 15 points to Slytherin!'

Ronald Weasley stood up, 'You can't give points to your own son, Professor! It wouldn't be fair!'

Draco also stood up and snarled, 'Shut up, Weasley! He can do whatever he wants, so sit down and keep quiet!'

Severus tried hard not to burst into laughter. This scene would remain in his memory for years to come.

Ronald Weasley and Draco Malfoy were standing in the middle of the class, glaring at each other. Blaise and Harry were chuckling behind their desks and the rest of the students were looking just plain terrified.

Still, he regained his composure and managed to mutter silkily, 'Thank you for your lovely stand-up, Mr. Malfoy. You can sit now. As for Mr. Weasley – I would give him a chance to earn points for his house too.'

Ronald looked scared for a second, but, as Gryffindor traits took over, nodded.

'Where would you look for, should I ask you to find me a bezoar?'

Ronald's ears turned red as he stuttered something that sounded, 'I don't know…'

Severus just sneered and nodded.

'Clearly, Mr. Weasley, you are not capable of earning points to Gryffindor. You are lucky as I am in a good mood today, so you are not going to lose them either. Bezoar is a stone, taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. Now, Ms. Granger, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?'

Hermione stood up and smiled, saying, 'They are the same thing, also going by the name of aconite, Professor.'

Severus nodded and told the class to write all of that down.

The rest of the Potions class was quite uneventful.

Harry was still very proud over his father and made everything he could to be perfect in his classes. To be honest, he succeeded.

After classes, the Silver trio could be found sitting in their common room.

'Wow! Somebody managed to break in at Gringotts!' Draco exclaimed, as he was reading the Daily Prophet.

'No way! No one could break in at Gringotts.'

Draco shrugged and threw the newspaper to Blaise.

'It's true! The robbers weren't found and it's known that they tried to empty vault 713! Wait, that sounds familiar!'

Harry nodded.

'My dad was talking to somebody about it the day we got our letters. He ended the conversation as soon as we walked in, but I remember him saying something about vault 713…'

'I wonder what's in it.'

'What _was_ in it, you mean. The vault was emptied the same day, just a few hours earlier.'

Harry looked into the fireplace. Flames were dancing around and Harry got the feeling that they knew something about the secret fortune, removed from Gringotts. Just like his father knew! He stood up and told his friends,

'I'm going to see my dad and ask about the 713… Don't wait up for me.'

With that, he left the common room.

* * *

Actually I have no idea about what I should write now... Ideas are welcome!


	3. Two Snapes

**I AM SOOOO SORRY!!! **

**This time it took really really long. And I actuallt finished this chapter weeks ago. Unfortunately I lost my beta and am now in search for a new one. Anyone volunteering? I would expect someone with good English, if possible. Thank you.**

**Now - on with the chapter.  
**

**Oh. And thank you for your reviews. **

* * *

Severus Snape sat in his office, thinking and drinking firewhiskey... This night he had a lot to think about. Harry Potter got sorted into Slytherin... No, his son got sorted into Slytherin! Still his mind trailed back to the truth. Lily and James Potter's child had been sorted into Slytherin. The son of true gryffindors became a serpent... Severus shook his head and felt somewhat guilty. After all - you don't born into a house, it all depends on how you are being raised up.

'Lily wouldn't have approved it...'

He sighed and tried to push these thoughts aside to make room for even more disturbing ones...

Vault number 713... Somebody had tried to steal it. And he had a pretty good idea about the thief. Actually he was sure that he was right his doubts were true.

'Bloody traitor. I told Dumbledore not to trust him, but the old man is getting us all into trouble with his too-good-of-a-heart!

Suddenly there was a knock on his door. He managed to empty his mind and breath out to calm down.

"Come in!"

Severus already put on a mask of indifference and coldness until he saw who opened the door. With a second his face reflected worry and happyness at the same time.

"What's wrong, Dem?"

Harry smiled. He had seen his fathers expression change with only a second and it kinda amused him. His dad really was good at keeping his feelings inside.

"Nothing... I just thought I wanted to see you."

Severus smiled and made a movement with his hand to invite his son closer.

"I'm delighted about you appearance in Potions. And I already heard about your other classes. I must say I can't be prouder over a son, who's that bright!"

Harry grinned. He felt as his tries had fulfilled their every purpose. But then his grin faded and was replaced with a look mixed with confusion and anger.

"Did you hear about my Transfiguration class?"

Severus shook his head and answered:"No. I'm afraid I didn't have a chance to chat with Professor McGonagall... But you can tell me about it!"

Harry shrugged and sat down next to Severus.

"He was pretty mean to me. I told him that turning a match into a needle is easy and she let me try. Well I did it and she got somewhat angry or something and then she let Hermione try and it took her more time to transform it, but after she did it, McGonagall gave her points and told me to be happy I didn't lose any with me being so proud over myself... I just can't understand! Why does she hate me?"

Severus wanted to tell Harry that she didn't hate him, but he knew he would lie doing so. He took a few seconds to come out with a propriate answer, but failed miserably. Instead he told Harry the truth.

"Don't pay any attention to her words unless she's talking about an assignment. The old hag just doesn't understand people more intelligent than she is and there's nothing you can do about it. In fact - she used to teach me when I was your age... I can honestly say that she wasn't nice to me either."

He took a moment to recall the exact memory.

"We had to transform a rose petal into a piece of parchment. I did it without a second try and ever since that day she just didn't stand me!"

Severus sighed and added quite dramatically:"I'm sorry to say but that woman just has something against us Snapes!"

Harry laughed and Severus smiled at him.

"Of course... Sirius is a totally different case. He was in her house and a part of the Bright Quartet! So naturally she adored him."

Harry snickered and whispered:"I have a secret..."

Severus raised his eyebrows and questionically twisted his lips, waiting for what was coming.

"I'm half-Black!"

The sight on Severus' face was priceless. To everybody else it might have seen as a mixture of shock and anger, but Harry knew that he was actually amused. What he didn't know is that the sentence made Severus think about something far more serious... What would have happened if Harry had been made Sirius' son? Or if Sirius had decided to raise him on his own! He didn't want to think about it and quickly masked his shock with amuse.

Suddenly Harry remembered why he really came down into the dungeons.

"Dad... I wanted to ask about the vault 713..."

Severus felt his heart fall. Harry wanted to ask about the stone... He knew very well who was after it and why. He also knew of the connection between his son and that monster...

"Why do you ask about it?"

Harry shrugged.

"Maybe because the Daily Prophet wrote something about a break-in in Grigotts? I mean, it is impossible, isn't it!"

Severus nodded while trying to come out with a good enough story. He looked for an answer which would save him from lying and at the same time could keep his son safe. He failed.

"Dad! Is everything allright?"

Severus looked into Harry's eyes and nodded.

"Dem, I need to tell you something very important..."

* * *

**So. That's it. I try to update as fast as possible and I have a surprise coming soon. But I'm not going to say anything else... **


	4. A secret and pranks on muggleborns

**I had some problems writing that since I don't have a beta to drag me out of my occasional writers blocks. But now it's up and this time a even have an idea about the next chapter. And then I might update even faster.I was sorry to receive so little reviews. But I guess it was my own fault. I just hope that the people who used to read 'A different beginning' will return to this one as I continue the boys first year in school.**

**Anyways... I may start blabbering again so I should better stop right now and leave you to read.**

* * *

For a second Severus thought about telling him everything. About Harry being one of the most famous wizards of their time. But he decided not to and instead started telling him about the vault.

"Dem... In that vault was a very dangerous thing. It was removed by one of Hogwarts staff members and it wasn't me. I need you to promise that you won't try to find it nor try to find out about what it was. Promise me!"

Harry stared at his feet for a minute. He didn't want to lie to his dad, but he also knew that someday his curiosity would take over him. So he tried it a bit differently.

"I promise I won't try to find it unless it comes to me on its own!"

Severus nodded and smiled. Harry's promise seemed safe and all he could now hope for was that the stone really wouldn't find his son first. Or that thing...

Severus knew that it was still alive somewhere. Why else would Dumbledore hide the stone in Hogwarts - the place the monster feared the most?

"That seems enough. Do you want to ask anything else or maybe you have something to tell me?"

Harry yawned and shook his head.

"I think I should go back to my dormitory and try to sleep a bit. It still is a school day tomorrow..."

Severus smiled again. And just as Harry was about to exit the door, he did something no other student would have ever believed to be possible.

"Dem, I'm proud over you. Thank you for coming into my life!"

Harry grinned like a madman and ran back to his father. He wrapped his arms around Severus' neck and hugged him as hard as he could.

"I love you too, dad!"

Then he turned around again and left the office, leaving Severus sitting there with a look of utter happiness on his face.

* * *

Blaise and Draco were waiting for him in the common room. When he finally entered through the painting, they both jumped up and ran to him with their questions.

"Where were you?" Blaise asked.

"I told you I was going to see my dad!"

"What did he tell you?" Draco continued.

"Nothing special..."

"What do you mean by that?"

Harry slumped into one oft he armchairs and started talking about everything. Actually the only thing he left out was this full-hearted goodbye he shared with his dad. That detail was personal. Draco and Blaise seemed to be deeply in their thoughts. When the blonde boy finally raised his eyes and looked at Harry, everybody already knew what was he had in mind. Blaise was the first one to grin and was soon followed by Harry. Draco hardly ever grinned but he was a master in smirking. And so he showed his skills once more like he had done over ten times that day.

"You promised your dad not to look for it yourself, but you said nothing about us and neither did he!" Draco exclaimed, as his eyes burned with fire never seen in anybody else's eyes before. Suddenly Yume flew into the common room and landed on Draco's shoulder. The boy gently patted it on its head and continued.

"I will start looking through the books in the library and Blaise could go ad charm some teachers into accidentally slipping some information. At the same time you-", he pointed his finger at Harry "keep acting like you don't care. We'll find a way to bring that object to you so you could break the first part of your promise..."

Three boys shook each others hands and left the common room to have some rest.

* * *

The next morning they had Herbology with Gryffindor. Blaise was really good in Herbology and tried to educate his two best friends too. Unfortunately neither of them was interested in glowing moonflowers and he soon gave up.

While Blaise was busy working with his moonflowers, Harry and Draco watched other students. Hermione was also dealing with the assignment the teacher had given them. He seemed really concentrated and Draco decided to pull a little prank on her. Without moving too much he drew his wand and whispered a quiet spell Mrs. Black had taught them.

"Confucian conjunctives!"

Draco's wand had a greenish glow for a second and then Hermione reacted. She jumped away from the table, shrieking and yelling something about snakes. It was hard for Draco for not to smirk, but somehow he managed to stay indifferent. Harry was the only one of the entire class to understand what had just happened, because he had been standing near Draco when the blonde's wand started glowing. Suddenly they saw Blaise running to the muggleborn and shaking her from the shoulders.

"Snap out, Hermione! There are no snakes here!"

Harry and Draco heard Ronald Weasley muttering something about half of the class being snakes, but nobody seemed to care. Hermione was still screaming and didn't seem to calm down even a little. Suddenly Blaise realized what was wrong with her. He flicked his wand, muttering "Conjunctives clearis" and sparks flew out of it. Hermione was still screaming. After three tries Blaise's wand started glowing and the girl stopped.

"What did you do?" she asked Blaise, eyes wide with fear.

"Why did you do it to me?"

Blaise was shocked. Hermione seemed to think it was he who made her see things...

"I... I didn't do it! I tried to help you!"

If looks could kill, Blaise would have died instantly.

"You slytherins are all the same! Trying to scare people who have done nothing bad just because it's fun! Stay away from me, Snake!"

With that she turned around and marched away. Blaise threw a glance at his friends who were staring at the scene with their mouths almost hanging open. And so were all the others... After some time Harry coughed and looked down.

"Next time you know you shouldn't save a damsel in distress..."

Draco didn't even feel like smirking that moment.

"Sorry, mate. Couldn't resist. Next time you should leave the sunflowers and keep an eye on us..."

"Moonflowers, Draco. And Dem - I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

The rest of the day passed quite uneventfully. Double Potions and double Charms. Severus was nasty with gryffindors and managed to take them 30 points while giving Slytherin 20 points.

Professor Flitwick taught them a new spell for levitating things. While one of the gryffindors managed to blow up the feather they were meant to levitate, Hermione succeeded on her first try. She was still very angry with Blaise and the raven haired kid seemed desperate.

"I didn't do it! Why don't you believe me!?"

Hermione just rolled her eyes and continued her work. But Blaise didn't give up.

"C'mon Granger! I didn't hex you! I just happened to know that spell and thanks to that also the counter spell. And while you screamed about imaginary snakes, I was the only one who tried to help! Everybody else was just staring..."

The gryffindor didn't seem to pay any attention to him at all and though Blaise kept on going about it, she still didn't break.

After the classes ended, Blaise shot only one look towards Draco.

"I hope you're happy now, Malfoy!"

Then he turned around and left his two friends staring at his back.

"What did I do?" Draco groaned.

Harry just shrugged and muttered something about apologizing. And although Draco asked him to repeat his words, Harry didn't.

They left to go to dinner. It was Halloween and there was a feast in the Great Hall...

* * *

**And I also want to thank my friend Madis, who has kept nagging about me continuing and also my previous beta - David. Thanks for making my dilemma disappear! **

**Devy Black**


	5. Troll in the dungeons

**And it took too long again. Fortunately it's here now. **

**Enjoy... **

* * *

Harry was just helping himself to a baked potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know."

He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.

After a short delay all the students were in utter panic, running towards the doors and causing a mess. Harry raised his eyes to the teachers table to see his dad, but Severus was nowhere to be seen. At the same time Draco was dragging him from the elbow and shouting something about leaving. On their way out they passed a bunch of gryffindors and heard one of them saying the other that Hermione was missing.

"She's in the girls bathroom! She's always there, crying her heart out!", the other one answered. Blaise suddenly grabbed Harry's arm."Hermione doesn't know!"

"Urgh, Blaise... Honestly you wouldn't care... I mean - the way she treated you!?", Draco snarled, obviously not interested in anything Blaise had in mind. But Blaise just ignored him.

"She doesn't know about the troll."Harry nodded and hurriedly followed his friend as Blaise was already running to the end of the corridor. Draco just stayed where he was, gawking like a goldfish.

As Harry and Blaise reached the corner of the third floor corridor, they heard someone walking right behind them.

"Finally you came to your senses, Draco...", Blaise muttered and froze in his place when he heard a voice too terrifyingly familiar answering.

"What on earth are you two doing here!? Didn't you hear about the troll?" It was Severus. Boys looked at each other and tried to make up a good excuse. Fortunately Harry had dealt enough with his dad and came to a solution almost immediately.

„We left the Great Hall a while ago. What troll are you talking about? Goyle? I see him every day – it's nothing extraordinary."

Severus raised an eyebrow, but seemed to believe them.

„Alright. There's a troll in the castle. As it was last seen in the dungeons, I don't want you going there... Go back to the Great Hall and don't leave until I'm back!" He then shot a dangerous look at his son and added:"I'm deadly serious, Dem!" Boys nodded and headed back. Or so it seemed... As soon as Severus disappeared from sight, both of them raced down the stairs nearest to them. It had to be their lucky day, as the staircase ended in the right hallway.

„Hermione!", Blaise yelled, having no special wish to go into the girls bathroom. But as there was no answer they entered and ran right into a troll. The beast was worse than they had imagined. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite gray, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which was almost lying on the floor because its arms were so long.

Blaise stared at it and tried to say something, but no words came out. Harry wasn't much better. The creature was standing right between the boys and Hermione, who was just standing there, staring at it and crying soundlessly. Finally Harry fell out of shock and shook Blaise to wake him. Blaise blinked a couple of times and seemed to come back to life. As they were both quite clever it didn't take very long to come up with a proper spell.

„Expelliarmus!", Harry shouted. He had learned the spell from Sirius two years ago. His uncle had told him that one day this spell would be extremely important and on that day Severus would thank him from teaching his son the spell so early. Harry was pretty sure the day Sirius had been waiting for was finally here. The club flew out of the beasts hand and then it was time for Blaise to act. He raised his wand and yelled:"Nirazrubimoe vetvy!" The perfectly shot incantation hit the troll right in the middle of its chest and immediately glowing red vines appeared from pure air and tied themselves tightly around the troll. The spell he had used was something he had found in one of his dad's old books. It was an ancient spell old farmers had invented to keep their bigger animals in one place. The vines were unbreakable and could only be removed by the caster.

After the troll fell onto its side because it couldn't hold his balance being all tied up and all, Hermione shrieked and jumped up to hug Blaise. „I'm sorry I was so mean... Thank you!" Blaise looked a bit surprised but still managed to pat Hermione on the back and mutter some comforting words. Harry laughed and mentioned Hermione that Blaise was already turning purple. The girl let him go and right then the teachers of Hogwarts walked in to witness the horrifying sight in front of them. Three first years were standing next to a captured troll, looking almost happy and two of them had their wands out as if they wanted to prove that they were the ones who caught the creature. Harry didn't care much about McGonagall being there. Although he knew that he would never hear the end of it, he just couldn't make himself to worry about it. He also didn't mind Quirrell seeing him next to a defeated troll. If anything, it might even be good for his Defence Against the Dark Arts grade. But the one thing that bothered him was that whatever his dad had been doing on the third floor was now apparently done. Severus Snape was standing right there, his face a mixture of different emotions. Harry saw disappointment, relief, shame and fear flicking through the same bottomless black eyes, that scared most of the students in the school with their usual emotionless. Right now they were totally different. Severus Snape looked like he had been hit by a train. Harry felt indescribable guilt and lowered his head. Blaise, who was standing on his right, didn't look much better than his best friend. Hermione opened and closed her mouth, unable to think of something useful to say that could save them from punishment.

„Miss Granger, are you alright?", McGonagall asked. Hermione just nodded and then the Head of the Gryffindor house turned to the boys. „I wouldn't expect anything different from you two... Always running headfirst into trouble! What did you do, Mr. Snape, to convince that poor little gryffindor to come with you?" Harry was expecting this, but before he could answer, Hermione had already opened her mouth.

„Professor McGonagall, if Demetrius and Blaise hadn't come, wouldn't be alive right now. They saved me from the troll."

McGonagall looked as if she had swallowed a thestral.

„But, Miss Granger... Why did you come here? Didn't you know that trolls are dangerous?"

Hermione swallowed and Harry decided to help him. „She wasn't at the feast and we overheard some gryffindors telling the others that she was down here. So we decided..." He was interrupted by McGonagall.

„It was a good opportunity for you to scare her? You attracted the troll here and when things went out of your hands, you decided to play heroes and save her?" It looked like she was desperate to get the boys in bigger trouble than they already were.

„No, Professor McGonagall! When they arrived, the troll was already here! Thanks to their clever minds they managed to disarm and capture it almost immediately!", Hermione tried again. For a second Blaise had already feared that she might believe McGonagall's version and hate them again, but it seemed Hermione was desperate to help them. McGonagall lips turned white and she muttered something ineligible, before turning to the boys again. "I think it's only fair to deduct points from all of you! Ten points from Miss Granger, fifteen from both Mr. Snape and Mr. Zabini!"

Severus had still said nothing. He just stared at Harry, his eyes as accusing as before. The boys decided not to argue with McGonagall and all five of them left the bathroom. Quirrell decided to stay behind and deal with the troll. Blaise destroyed the vines with the flick of his wand and Quirrell replaced them so he could open them himself afterwards. Hermione and McGonagall headed off to the Gryffindor tower and boys followed Severus to the dungeons. The feared Potions Master didn't bother to wait for them and was soon out of sight.

"That was pretty lucky... I thought she was going to take a hundred points or so!", Blaise exclaimed as they arrived at their corridor. Harry just nodded. When they reached the painting, Blaise climbed in and waited for his friend to follow. But Harry just shook his head and walked away. Blaise sighed and closed the portrait.

Harry walked back a bit and then took a left turn. He knocked on a big wooden door, but when there was no answer, he decided to go in. He walked through the classroom to the back of it. There was nothing but a wall there, but Harry knew better. He tapped the stones three times and whispered:"Serpensortia." It was enough for the wall to open up and lead him to his fathers private quarters. The sight he witnessed was almost heartbreaking. Severus Snape was sitting next to his bed, his face in his hands and he was actually sobbing. Harry walked to his dad and wrapped his arms around him.

"I'm sorry..."

Severus raised his head and Harry could see his face was tear striped. He held onto his dad even harder because the sight of seeing him crying was just so terrifying. Severus hugged his son and sighed.

"Blaise wanted to go and help her and I couldn't let him go alone! I'm sorry we lied."

Severus nodded and looked deep into Harry's eyes.

"When Minerva came down and told me that one gryffindor and two slytherins – one being my son – were missing, I was sure I'll never see you again. You're eleven, for Merlin's sake! And when we reached the bloody bathroom, you were there... All alive and well... I felt as if the world around me had collapsed and started to build itself up again. I don't want to lose you... Ever!" Harry lowered his head again. Suddenly he felt such shame and guilt both rushing through him like a hurricane. He could have trusted his dad and told him that they were going to help Hermione. What if something really bad had happened? His dad would have helped them or he would at least have called someone to deal with it. Harry knew that he had caused suffering to the one person he loved more than anything else in this life and it hurt him inside.

"I'm sorry... About lying, scaring you and losing points. We weren't thinking." Harry muttered quietly. Severus nodded and patted his son on the head.

"At least you're safe. That's all that really matters. But now you could tell me... How did you beat the troll?" Although the boys actions had scared him, he was quite intrigued by the fact that two eleven year olds could capture a full-grown mountain troll. Harry just smiled and told Severus everything.

"When we first arrived, it was already there. Hermione seemed to be in shock and to be honest – so were we. But then we recovered and decided to do something. Two years ago Sirius taught me the disarming spell. I used it to get rid of the club. Then Blaise used some kind of ancient magic – you know, he's pretty good at it, spells and stuff – to tie it up. The beast tried to break free, but it seemed the vines were too strong. And then you arrived!"

Severus listened to him in awe. He also made a mental note to thank Sirius for saving Harry's life. "That's amazing, Dem! But I don't want you to go boasting around with it that much. Maybe just in front of the Weasleys... Because if you show too much pride over it, the others might think you did it all on purpose. I still want everybody know about what my son managed to do to the troll... So the Weasleys are the best solution. They'll spread the word around..." Harry laughed and hugged his dad.

"I'm really sorry and so is Blaise! I love you." Severus smiled.

"I love you too, but go to your dormitory now... I think you are continuing the feast in your common room and I don't want you to miss dessert. Good night, Dem!"

"Good night, Dad!"

And so he left. But before he closed the door, he heard pretty clearly how Severus quietly said:"40 points to Slytherin for Gryffindor bravery..."

* * *

**Reviews are always welcome!**

**Devy Black **


	6. Draco's problem and meeting Fluffy

**I kind of like how this one turned out. Enjoy! **

* * *

Breakfast the next morning was quite eventful. It seemed the whole school already knew about what had happened in the bathroom. McGonagall didn't seem too happy about the fact half of the school thought of Harry as of some kind of hero. When Harry, Blaise and Draco entered the Great Hall, Severus made a gesture to call them to the Head Table. Although all three were pretty hungry, they walked up and Dumbledore rose to see the boys. The Headmaster congratulated Harry and Blaise on their brilliantness and rewarded both of them with ten points. Then they finally sat down to eat.

"Wow. You are the school's unofficial heroes... Although I'm happy I didn't follow you, I wouldn't turn away such kind of attention.", Draco laughed. Harry and Blaise just rolled their eyes.

"We are not heroes! Dumbledore is a hero, Harry Potter is a hero... I'm just someone who was lucky enough to know a good spell. That's it.", Harry answered and Blaise nodded.

They finished their breakfasts and left the Great Hall to bump into Hermione.

"Oh! Hello Dem, hello Blaise!" She seemed to not notice Draco and the boy didn't just ignore it.

"What, Granger? No hello for me? Just for the heroes of your boring know-it-all life?"

Hermione turned almost as red as a tomato, but decided not to say anything. Instead she gave a smile to Harry and Blaise and left to get something to eat. After she was gone, Blaise hissed:"What's your problem, Draco?"

Draco just shrugged and turned to Harry for support. "She started it..." But it seemed Harry didn't share his views and he gave up. "Okay, Blaise. I won't be mean to your muggleborn girlfriend anymore... But it doesn't mean that if you guys are going to hang out together, I want to do it too... I'd like to keep myself clean." That earned him a glare from Blaise, but Harry knew it wouldn't get any farther. Blaise and Draco were just too different and although they were friends, they shared their own 'moments'. He still wanted to talk to Draco about Hermione afterward.

Nothing special happened during their school day if not to consider the fact that Harry and Blaise couldn't pass a single group of students who didn't stop whispering as the came to hearing range. After their classes were over, they sat down in their common room and just enjoyed each others company. Finally Harry opened his mouth as he turned to Draco:"I want you to know that we expect good behavior from you while we're spending time with Hermione. She's not that bad, you know..."

Draco rolled his eyes. He knew it was coming, but he didn't want to talk about it. His father had always told him to stay away from mudbloods and he intended to obey as much as possible. But at the same time Harry was making it harder than he had thought it would be.

"Dem... I don't want to be friends with the muggleborn girl.", he whined.

"We don't want you to become friends with her... Just don't insult her anymore... And no tricks! Blaise had a really hard time making her understand we're not the bad guys. It almost cost us our lives!" Draco whimpered for a second. Somewhere deep inside he had already accused himself for putting his best friends in danger, but at the same time a nasty little voice inside his head whispered that he didn't tell them to go after her...

"Honestly. Why do you have to ruin my whole school year?" After earning a nice glare from Harry, he chuckled and added:"Just kidding... I try to keep my mouth shut about her heritage, hair and teeth..." After earning an all too familiar look from his friends, he annoyedly added:"And about her grades and behaviour..."

Blaise and Harry smiled and then decided to do their homework, meaning they spent a good two hours sitting around a table and saying things like "I can't believe the goblins were really that violent!" and "Blaise, show me the flick again. I can't seem to get the hang of it." After they finished, it was already time for dinner. As the Silver Trio marched into the Great Hall, everybody was already there, still watching them in awe. Harry rolled his eyes. Sometimes he was sure he couldn't get any more attention. They sat down and ate in silence. When they were done, all three stood up and left just to meet Hermione Granger on the other side of the doors.

"Oh. Hello again.", she said while smiling. Draco had a hard time holding himself back, because the girl's front teeth were the biggest he had ever seen. To be honest, he already had a nice comment on his tongue, but he tried to keep it there without letting it slip. Unfortunately the girls smile grew even bigger with every second and Draco couldn't hold himself back anymore.

"Why, Granger... What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the forest with other rabbits?" The results were catastrophic. Hermione's eyes grew wide as she slapped a hand in front of his mouth. She turned around and ran away, crying. Blaise had a murderous look on his face and Harry wasn't much better. They were both glaring at Draco and the boy groaned.

"Oh no! I forgot she was your girlfriend, Blaise! Sorry!"

"First – she isn't my girlfriend and second – sorry is not good enough anymore!" With that Blaise marched away, leaving a shocked Draco and an angry Harry standing right there.

"What were you thinking, you stupid git?!" Harry almost shot arrows with his eyes. Cold fear ran through the blond haired boys veins. He had never seen Harry so angry and now he wished he never would have.

"I... I'm sorry... That's how I was raised... I couldn't help it. I'm sorry..."

"You can't go out and say things without thinking about consecuences! We're not six year olds anymore! Try to grow up for once!" Harrys anger wasn't getting any cooler and Draco felt as if he was going to lose the only friends he had. A lonely tear made its way down his left cheek and he tried one last time:"I really am sorry... Don't abandon me... Please..."

He looked so sad that Harry felt pity coming over him. He patted Draco on the shoulder and nodded.

"You really have the worst dad ever... I'm sorry for calling you a stupid git. You're stupid, but you're my friend. I shouldn't have called you that." Draco nodded and lowered his head.

"I guess we should go and try to find Blaise... I have some apologizing to do..." Harry smiled and they headed off.

They had underestimated their friends. Blaise was gone and there was no trace left from him. They had already searched for two hours and it was past curfew now. Suddenly they heard a noise from their left. Somebody was coming.

"Yes, my princess... I heard it too. There are students here!" It was Filch! He took only three more steps and then looked around the corner where he had heard two boys talking. It was quite surprising to see that the hallway was empty as only half a minute ago he had heard students there... "Stupid Peeves...", he muttered and turned around to go and scan the other part of the castle.

Harry and Draco felt as if they had drank a gallon of Felix Felicis. Just as Filch was nearing the corner, a staircase started moving next to them. They saw the rare opportunity and jumped on it just to disappear from view. When Filch came into the hallway, he didn't even see the moving staircase.

And as if that wasn't enough, they landed right in front of one Blaise Zabini.

"Blaise!", both of them exclaimed happily. It was impossible to tell, who was more surprised – Harry and Draco or poor Blaise who nearly got an heart attack from seeing his friends appearing in front of him so unexpectedly from seemingly nowhere.

"What are you doing here? We've looked everywhere!", Draco cheered before remembering Blaise was angry with him. Then he shot his eyes on the floor and muttered:"I'm sorry for what I was acting like before... I hope you can forgive me..." Blaise just smiled and grabbed his young friend into tight embrace. "You silly dragon. Of course I forgive you!"

Suddenly they heard footsteps.

Draco whispered:"It must be Filch!"

And so it was... Filch had managed to do his rounds on the fourth floor and was now on the third. The boys were also on the third floor and Filch was coming on fast.

"Run!", Harry whispered and all three ran to a deserted hallway right next to them. Unfortunately Filch had also decided to go there and all they could do was wait. Or... "There's a door!", Draco shouted and ran to it. "It's locked! We're doomed!" But Blaise, brilliant as always, only smiled and flicked his wand. "Alohomora!" The door clicked open and they managed to close it behind them just as Filch marched into the now empty hallway. Breathing heavily the boys turned around only to see something they could never forget... They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.

It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Harry knew that the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise, but it was quickly getting over that, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls meant. All three had their wands out almost automatically, but they already knew this time magic couldn't help them.

"I think we should g-go now... Umm... G-good doggy. S-see ya l-later!", Blaise stuttered and they ran away faster than a snitch could fly. Filch wasn't in the hallway anymore and they reached their common room without problems. When they finally fell on the couch, exhausted, Draco opened his mouth just to close it again. After a few minutes of relaxing, Harry said:"I never want to see it again..." There was no need for words to know that he wasn't the only one who thought so.

"But... Did you see what it was standing on?", Blaise asked soon. His friends nodded.

"It was a trapdoor.", Harry answered and Draco's eyes suddenly widened.

"I know what's under it! The Chamber of Secrets! The one Slytherin made when Hogwarts was still in the making..."

Harry and Blaise looked at each other and laughed out loud. Draco's cheeks flushed as he kept explaining:"It's true! It hides a monster so terrible it could kill you with only looking at you!" That made his friends laugh even more.

"Well... I think that after we heard this nice bedtime story, we could go and fall asleep now. Draco – you should dream about the Chamber of Secrets this night and tomorrow you could fill in all the details.", Blaise said and he looked quite amused. Draco smirked and nodded. The Silver Trio left the common room to enjoy the simple pleasures of night, not knowing they had discussed two of Hogwarts biggest secrets that night.

* * *

**Thank you. **


	7. Holiday ahead!

**I'm sorry this one took so long, but I have an excuse! Summer holiday arrived and I went home and the internet was cut. **

**So... I still updated and I have a few chapters written out over my really busy summer. **

* * *

Time passed quickly and soon it was already almost Christmas. Harry, Blaise and Hermione had spent more time together every day and though Draco didn't like it much, he still had accompanied them most of the time. Usually they spent hours in the library, researching for homework or something interesting to learn during their free time. And because Madame Pinch didn't allow practising spells in the library, they had to find another place for that. Unfortunately it seemed almost impossible and they had to accept the fact they couldn't actually practise them, but only learn the theoretical part. It didn't make it any less interesting though. The four first years enjoyed every possibility to learn something new. Blaise had a thing for Charms. He loved to learn about them and sometimes he even considered the idea of actually inventing spells. But of course – his magic hadn't developed that far and he had no idea how to make one. Draco found tranquility in reading about the past. History of Magic was his most favourite class and he always tried to pull parallels with the present. He was also quite fond of Transfiguration, but not half as good as Harry was. Harry seemed to have a natural talent at both Transfiguration and Potions. He was also good at Charms, but Blaise was still better. Severus had told him a long time ago, his mother had been great at Charms and that he probably inherited some of her traits. The three friends were perfect together. Blaise with her amazing talent in Potions and Herbology, Harry with his Transfiguration and Potions and Draco and his History of Magic and flying ability. And then there was Hermione. The girl was a complete mystery. She seemed to love every class and it showed in her grades also. Draco had learned to tame his tongue and even if he sometimes wanted to tell something about Hermione, he was quite impressed with the muggleborn. Hermione was the best student in her year and though The Silver Trio was catching up on her close in their best classes, they still couldn't do better.

„Oh! I found an interesting charm, Blaise!"

Hermione had just found something new and as always – she showed it to the others too. Blaise accepted the book, the girl was holding and read through the theoretical part of the spell.

„Sorry, Herms, I know that one already!"

Draco snorted, but tried to control himself. This time he even managed and though Hermione had heard him, she was happy there was nothing following the snort.

„So... Where are you guys going for Christmas?", she asked casually.

Harry raised his eyes and the girl could see they were glittering with joy.

„I'm going home with my dad and I'm finally going to see Sirius again! Oh, how I've missed him..."

Blaise smiled and patted his friend on the shoulder. Then he turned to Hermione:"Sirius is his uncle. Honestly – he must have been the biggest prankster Hogwarts has ever seen, considering he's the craziest person I've ever seen... I'm going home for a while and then I'm going to go to Dem's place. I can't say I miss his grandmother much, but I'd also like to see Sirius and tell him about our school year!"

Hermione smiled. She was happy too see her friends in a good mood and though she was also kind of sad about not seeing them over the Christmas break, she had to admit that she was also looking forward to see her parents again and going home for Christmas.

Then she turned to Draco:"And where are you going?"

The blonde raised his eyes for a second and considered ignoring the girl. But he knew he would get hell from his best friends afterwards and replied shortly:"I'm doing what Blaise is doing... Only I have nothing against Mrs. Black."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. „Mrs. Black?"

„My grandmother... Well she's not my real grandmother, but she was my uncle's mom and she cares for me as much as a grandmother would.", Harry answered while still smiling.

Hermione didn't even try to hide the fact she was confused.

„Why did you say, she was your uncle's mom? Is she dead? And if she is, how can you see her? Is she a ghost? And if she is..."

Blaise stopped her blabbering before it got any worse:"She's dead, but lives on in a painting. I tried to burn it once, but didn't manage... Although it was quite funny afterwards. Dem's dad was the one who stopped the flames and I think Mrs. Black still thinks of him as his saviour. You wouldn't imagine the look on his face every time the chorus about him being the most noble and charming man in the whole world... Honestly. Sometimes she behaves like a silly teenager with raging hormones..." That made Draco smirk.

„So you think Mrs. Black has a thing for Professor Snape?"

All four were suddenly very quiet and it seems they were trying to block certain images from their minds.

„Draco...", Harry started. „You disgust me!"

And then all four started laughing, which of course caused Madame Pinch to glare at them and ask them to leave the library.

Hermione and the boys bid their goodbyes as they turned to leave to their dorms. Hermione went to the Gryffindor tower and The Silver Trio to the dungeons. While Draco and Blaise wanted nothing but return to their common room, Harry decided to pay a visit to his dad.

On his way to his classroom, he heard stuttering coming from this direction.

"... d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet me, Severus..."

Harry quietly stepped forward. It was clearly Quirrell talking in the Potions classroom. And his father was there too! Quirrell was mumbling something. Severus interrupted him.  
"Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"  
"B-b-but Severus, I --"  
"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell," said Severus, his voice cold and menacing.  
"I-I don't know what you..."  
"You know perfectly well what I mean."  
Harry nearly screamed when he felt something brush against his leg. It was Mrs. Norris. He calmed down and tried to steady his heartbeats just in time to hear Severus say "– your little bit of hocus-pocus. I'm waiting."  
"B-but I d-d-don't --"  
"Very well," Severus cut in. "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie. Out!"  
Quirrell seemed to obey almost immediately, because Harry heard a sudden movement coming from the classroom and soon the door to the classroom had opened and Quirrell walked out, tripping on his way once or twice. Harry had hid himself right in time behind a statue of a Wizard who was half snake – half human. He was just thinking how to go back without making any noise, so his dad wouldn't know about him listening in to their conversation, when he heard the man's voice again:"Dem, if you would be so nice and step in? I'm pretty sure, he's gone by now."

Harry lowered his head and came out of his hiding place to enter the classroom. His dad was sitting behind his table and massaging his temple with his fingertips. Harry swallowed. Severus only did so when he was extremely tired or in a very bad mood.

And before he could stop himself, he had already blurted out the question ringing in his mind:"Why were you threatening Professor Quirrell?"

Severus raised his eyes to look at his son and Harry whimpered. His fathers eyes were cold and empty and he looked older than before.

„Demetrius... What do you know about Nicholas Flamel?"

Harry shrugged. He knew he had heard that name somewhere before but he couldn't remember where... He made a mental note to ask Draco about it later.

Severus was still watching him, but didn't say a word anymore. And then, almost as if he had made up his mind, he opened his mouth again:"Remember the time I told you about this dangerous thing what was removed from Gringotts right before someone tried to steal it?"

Harry nodded and he continued:"I have a reason to believe Quirrell was the one trying to steal it... And now – when it's hidden in Hogwarts, it seems he's trying to get to it again..."

Shame brushed over Harry. He had actually thought his dad was bullying poor Professor Quirrell.

„Is it hidden behind the trapdoor under the three-headed dog?", he asked and almost immediately bit his tounge. His father looked even older at his question, but nodded quietly. They sat in complete silence for almost half an hour, both thinking hard about their short conversation. Severus was thinking about his son's knowledge about certain things that he didn't want him to know about and Harry was thinking about how his dad could always manage under pressure like this. He also felt a faint blush on his cheeks as he remembered some of the pressure was because of him...

„Dad? I'm sorry...", he started and looked into Severus's seemingly bottomless eyes. But he knew better. He knew there was concern and live behing the black pits and he was even quite pleased with the idea he was the only one seeing it. Because then it meant all this was only for him.

Severus tried to smile for his son's sake, but it turned out as a sad grimace. Harry opened his arms and Severus pulled him into a hug.

„I don't even want to know how you found out about Fluffy... I swear – you're going to give me a heart attack on one of these days, son!", he muffled into Harry's shoulder and the kid snorted.

„Don't think it's going to work, dad. I'm not a stupid Quirrell who believes you're actually capable of fulfilling your threats."

Severus pulled back and arched an eyebrow. He tried to sneer at Harry, but failed miserably. Of course he himself thought he had done just fine.

„So you don't think I'm capable of doing dangerous and illegal things?"

Harry chuckled and shook his head.

„Maybe you are, but not to me! Never to me!" Severus nodded and patted his son on the head.

„We're going home tomorrow... Want to go to the Diagon Alley to buy some Christmas presents?" Harry nodded, but added:"Can you give me money?" Severus smiled. „Of course."

A huge smile spread over Harry's face and he turned to leave. He was almost at the door when he turned back and asked:"Are we flooing home from here?" Severus nodded.

„Can Blaise and Draco come to stay for a week?" His dad nodded again.

"Goodnight dad!"

"Goodnight Dem!", his father answered.

That seemed to be enough and Harry left the classroom to go and talk to Draco and Blaise about all the discoveries.

Severus, at the same time, slumped in his chair and let out a deep sigh. He was sure Harry was getting into trouble soon and he knew there was no way he could stop him.

* * *

**Devy Black **


	8. Home again

Oh. I'm just lazy as hell these days. All the free time I have, I try to spend on myself and so everything else seems to fall back. Sorry.

* * *

Harry didn't even have a chance to go to breakfast the next morning as they had to leave before seven o'clock to make it on time. Severus had planned a trip to Gringotts and unfortunately some shopping had to be done also. He actually preferred house elves doing Christmas shopping, but it was the smile on his son's face that overweighted the urge to rather sit down on a couch, relax and wait for the presents to arrive on their own. They had to get to Grimmauld Place before noon to decorate the house together and wrap all the presents on time so they would have enough time to send them to away. Needless to say – Harry was very grumpy in the morning. He and his friends had stayed up until four o'clock in the morning, talking about different theories about the mysterious item under that trapdoor. Unfortunately Harry had forgotten the name he had planned to ask Draco about and though he tried to remember it, it was buried deep down in his other memories. They decided to use Harry's pensive to find out the name, but to do so, they had to wait at least for a week, because the pensive was at Grimmauld Place and everybody decided to spend a week at their homes before staying at Harry's place for the rest of the break.

And now Harry and Severus were standing in front of the fireplace in the Potions Master's private rooms.

Severus left first and Harry followed him soon after. When he walked out of the fireplace at Diagon Alley, he couldn't help but sigh in awe. All the shops were decorated and it was snowing. The sight in front of his eyes was almost magical.

'It is...', a small voice inside his head reminded him.

They headed off to Gringotts and after that Severus gave him some money to spend on presents. Harry decided to start with looking for a gift to Blaise. It didn't take too long to find it, considering he knew the boy as well as Blaise knew him. They were like brothers, or even better! So he picked out a beautiful silver chain. It looked as if it were made of silvery leaves, entwined around each other. He also bought a book for him. "Seventy thousand three hundred and eighty nine new spells you can practice almost everywhere!". Harry grinned and made a mental note to ask his dad to help improve the gifts later. The next he was going to find a gift was Draco. It wasn't too hard to find that one either. He bought him a book, called "The complete history of wizards and witches" and a new notebook and quill. The notebook had green covers and it looked like they were made of dragon skin. It had a small silver lock that would open only if the owner would touch it with the tip of their wand. The quill was long and silver with green and blue spots on it, making it really beautiful. Now he had to find gifts to both his dad and uncle. He found suitable items and purchased them. Then a gift to his grandmother and finally Hermione. He wasn't very sure about giving the girl anything at the first place, but then he decided to still do it. Although they weren't so close friends, she was still with them and she was okay. So he bought her a nice gold bracelet with small rubies adorning it. He also found a matching quill and bought it. Then it was time to find his dad and go home.

* * *

The second they had stepped over the doorway at Grimmauld Place, Harry was wrapped into a bone crushing hug by his uncle. "Okay... S-s-sirius... Need air... Now..." Finally the man released him and eyed him from head to toes.

"You sure have grown since I last saw you... And you've gotten smarter! And there's something else... Hmm... Could it be a girl?" Harry laughed and shook his head.

"You never change, do you?", he asked with amusement glowing in his voice. He had already forgotten how much he loved his uncle and seeing him again was a good reminder of it, as he felt as if his heart could never feel anything but delight.

Then Severus intruded:"Dem, maybe you should go upstairs to unpack and wrap the presents you bought... I would like to have a few words with your uncle... In private, of course." Harry scowled, but obeyed without arguing, because he knew exactly how pointless it was to argue with one Severus Snape. Especially if he had already made up his mind about doing something.

Soon after he was out of hearing range, Severus's tough charade fell to pieces.

"He's not going to make through the year, Black!"

Sirius, who was quite surprised by the man's sudden change of behaviour, couldn't even imagine what had happened...

"You're overreacting, Snape... I'm sure he's doing just fine... You are just... erm... How to say it now... A bit overprotecting!", he tried to make it as easy as possible.

Severus ignored him, which came as another surprise to Sirius. He had already managed to accept the fact he was going to be hexed into oblivion, but to his utter astonishment, Severus just sighed and stared in front of him. When he finally opened his mouth, all that could escape his throat, was a quiet whisper:"He faced a mountain troll this year... Almost alone. With the Zabini kid. And he survived... Then he found a three-headed gigantic dog in the castle, while wandering around with his friends... He's still alive and well... And he's only an inch away from finding out about the you-know-what in Hogwarts! He already knows where it is and who's after it... He's not going to make it!"

All colour had drained from Sirius's face. He hadn't known things were that bad... And now, listening to Severus talk about all the horrible things that had already happened this yeas, he felt as if Hogwarts wasn't the best idea for schooling Harry after all...

"We can always take him back here for him to get home-schooled by my mother!", he offered.

"We can't do that! He would never forgive us if we would separate him from his friends!", Severus snapped back.

"Well... We can take them off school too! They can all come here and get home-schooled!" Severus looked into the man's face and saw that he was actually being serious. He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"It's not going to work. Lucius would never allow it and I know Lysander wouldn't be too pleased either..."

Sirius nodded and scratched his chin. It was a stupid little habit he had picked up from somewhere and he only used it in emergency cases – for example if he was too worried or too much in trouble.

Now it was the first case. The two men sat in silence, thinking their own thoughts when Harry arrived and asked his father to come with him. Severus followed and found himself in front of a pile of presents. Three of them were already wrapped.

"One is yours, the other is grandmother's and the last one is Sirius's. I wrapped his too so you couldn't blackmail him with it.", Harry explained. "But now I need your help on some of the more advantaged spells..."

He pulled out a necklace he had bought for Blaise. "I want it to be in connection with this..." He showed a ring that had quite the same design, only it was wider. He had bought the ring for himself.

"I want it to transfer pain into my ring, so I would know when he's hurting and I could go there immediately." Severus nodded and touched the necklace with his wand. A blue glow surrounded it and he pulled it to the ring. The items were both wrapped in blueish glow before it disappeared, leaving them the way the seemed to be before the incantation.

"You feel a sharp pain through the ring, whenever he's hurt and can go to him through the magical portkey I placed inside it. Just touch the ring with your wand and say:"Portus!"... Usually the spell generates portkeys, but in your case, it activates the ring and gets you where ever the necklace is..."

Harry smiled, but Severus wasn't done yet. "If the person wearing the necklace is fine, you feel lightness through the ring and if he's dead, your ring falls off your finger until you've found another to wear the necklace!"

Harry swallowed. He didn't want to think about the possibility that he would need the last part someday... Then he gave his dad the notebook for Draco.

"Can you re-charm it? It has a charm that lets only the owner of the notebook open it by touching it with the tip of his wand. But I would like you to put another charm for it. Maybe you could do something so the lock would need a password too?"

Severus smiled. The first years were so innocent. Giving a password chance for the lock was third year material and here he was, asking if it was even possible. But he fulfilled the boy's wish and then had to do only two more spells. On Draco's and Hermione's quills to make them check spelling mistakes and on Draco's case he made the quill take notes by following Draco's words. It was quite similar to the quills the reporters used in the Daily Prophet.

As they finished it was already time for dinner and so they went back downstairs to the dining room to meet a hungry Sirius there.

After some food they found time to decorate the house and give it a much happier design. Harry sent all the gifts to his friends away and asked the house elves to guard the gifts to his family. Kreacher was happy to do it, since Harry was still his mistress's favourite.

And then they had nothing more to do but wait and see what the Christmas Eve would bring...

* * *

I'd like to write now. But I'm not gonna promise anything...

This story is going to be somewhat DH compliant.

Devy Black


	9. Christmas is here!

**Christmas. I'm very late with the update, but if you're still there to read it, then I hope you won't be disappointed.**

* * *

Severus used to sleep long during holidays and normally no one tried to change it. But there were a few special days he still had to be careful. April Fools Day, his birthday and of course – the Christmas morning... And as it was the last of the three this time, he was up earlier than everybody else and ready for whatever might be coming. An hour after waking up he heard a scream from Sirius' room and smirked. Harry had soaked him with cold water last year to get him to wake up and Severus didn't dare to guess what it was this time.

"I'm gonna hunt you down, Little Snape!", Sirius yelled and Severus heard Harry chuckling.

Then there were sneaking footsteps behind his door and Severus saw Harry quietly trying to step into his room without waking him. The look of disappointment and confusion on the boy's face was priceless and Severus laughed at him.

"Did you really think I was going to let you wake me up while I'm completely aware of the little tricks you like to pull on people on certain days?", he asked while giving his son one of his gentle smirks the other students never saw.

"It's not fair!", Harry answered back. "You woke up on April Fools Day and today I had the best thing for you!"

Severus raised and eyebrow and inquired about it. "And what do you think is the best thing for me?"

Harry grinned devilishly and shrugged. "I guess you'll never find out now..."

"I guess I won't..." And then he changed the subject. "What did you do to Sirius this time?"

The little Angel of Doom standing in front of him smirked quite like his father when he was about to take points off from the Gryffindor house and answered proudly:"I soaked a frog in sticky beetle eyes and put it in his mouth! Then I shook him and told him he had missed another Quidditch match. He totally jumped up and nearly bit the frog!"

Severus tried hard not to laugh. He was so sorry he hadn't seen it and in some level even understood Sirius' wish to hunt Harry down and probably make him regret it somehow. The only problem was, that every time he managed to do so, Harry just gave him a "look of a true prankster" and Sirius forgot all his evil little plans for the boy. He always told the kid the same story about Harry being so clever and so cute and instead of using the pranks he had thought of on the kid, he decided to let him in on the ideas. "Just so he could be ready to live in the real world someday" was his favourite excuse, but Severus didn't always believe it. Sometimes he just thought that Sirius tried to bring back memories of that insufferable James Potter and the gang through teaching Harry how to pull pranks on people.

"I should tell you that it was childish of you and stop your friends coming over, but..." He winked and gave his now terrified son a small smile. "Considering that it was Sirius and not me who you played the trick on and also understanding that it's probably the usual behaviour between two pranksters, you're being forgiven."

He ruffled Harry's hair which made the boy cringe and told him to go down to breakfast and that he would be arriving shortly after. When the door closed and he was once again left to his comfortable solitude, he gave a full hearted smile and opened a small box in one of his drawers. He took out a picture of a beautiful, young girl in her Hogwarts uniform and a tall, dark boy standing next to her. Softly sliding a finger over the girls face, he sighed and whispered:"I wish you could just see him... Happy Christmas, love." With that he put the photo back and closed the box, hiding it into a drawer again and left the room to follow Harry as he had promised.

On his way down he heard Sirius' voice:"You! This time you're in trouble, Dem Snape!" Then there was a quiet pause and when it ended, Severus smirked once again.

"Ow... You are so clever! Honestly – the trick was amazing. I'm still amazed by the way someone so cute as you could pull pranks as nasty as this. But you know... I have a few ones I thought of myself and maybe we could talk about them later!"

Harry just laughed and Severus knew why. Sirius was once again defeated by a "look of a true prankster".

Severus had decided to open the presents in the evening instead of morning and no one protested. Well. Yeah – one did. Sirius. But no one ever listens to him and so the deal was sealed.

Severus dragged Sirius into the library right after breakfast.

"There's a reason for not opening the presents in the morning and you're not going to like it, Black!"

Sirius snickered and whispered:"I don't like the fact we're opening them later!"

Severus just rolled his eyes and hit him with something he had just picked up from a table nearby. It was a rather large present, wrapped up in brown parchment and there was also a card. Sirius's eyes lit up when he saw it, but before he managed to ask, Severus answered:"It's not for you! Read the bloody card and tell me what you think!"

Sirius frowned and grabbed the card. His eyes widened though when he read what it said.

"To Harry Potter!

This belonged to your father and it's only fair for you to get it now.

Albus Dumbledore"

For a moment there was silence in the library. Then Sirius opened his mouth only to close it again. Severus's dark eyes were on the package and seemed as emotionless as always. Both men were thinking the same thing. How did Dumbledore know that Harry's alive?

"Where did you get it?" Sirius's voice was lower than whisper.

"His owl delivered it before breakfast. What do you think?"

Sirius sat down in one of the huge armchairs in the library and ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't know. Harry's supposed to be dead. We worked on those spells for a year, Snape! The most advanced charm work and transfiguration! It's impossible to find out anything about the kid being alive and well without our permission and we haven't given any!"

Severus reminded him:"Lupin didn't need a permission..."

"Yes, but he knew Lily through and through... Dumbledore had never such a connection with neither Lily nor Harry's father..."

"Too hard to say 'James', Black?" Severus sneered.

Sirius just bit his lip and continued:"Even if he somehow found out the kid is still alive... How did he know where to send the present?"

Severus didn't answer. He was too deep in thought, silently repeating every single enchantment they had put on Harry and with every spell it seemed more and more impossible for anybody to get through the magical shield they had created. Even if it was Dumbledore.

"No... He doesn't know who Dem really is. He just sent the package via time mail. It's the only possible explanation. He must have cast the spell while Harry was still living with muggles and after his 'death' he forgot it!" Relief flooded over Sirius when he took a few seconds to let the theory sink in. Then curiosity raised its head.

"I wonder what he sent him?" Severus kept his face indifferent, but his insides were almost screaming at him to open it.

"Open it, if you want to know. I couldn't care less."

"Liar." But he was already tearing the brown parchment and Severus dropped all acts, coming closer and helping him.

"It's... A cloak?" The Potions Master was expecting something more important. Maybe a book. Or a set of important(and dangerous) items that could affect both muggles and wizards. Then he remembered it wasn't really Dumbledore making a Christmas present. He was just giving back something he had borrowed from Harry's father. And considering they were talking about James Potter, a cloak wasn't that surprising. Nothing intelligent and useful was to be expected from that man. Or so Severus thought.

Sirius, who seemed to have lost his tongue the moment he saw the cloak, shook his head and took a deep breath. He looked Severus right in the eye and after seeing his look, a smile crept onto his lips. "You have no idea what it is, do you?"

His wasn't mocking. The tone he used was calm and somewhat cool. Severus frowned and answered honestly:"I think it's a cloak."

Sirius laughed quietly and whispered:"It's the cloak. It's the Invisibility cloak."

Severus raised both of his eyebrows and eyed the piece of clothing with some kind of mixture of both surprise and indifference. He had tried to keep his face straight, but Sirius's words had shocked him beyond anything.

"And what do you mean by THE Invisibility cloak, Black? Why should Potter's Invisibility cloak differ from any other cloak in the world?"

Sirius stared at him for a good five seconds before something seemed to reach his eyes. He turned them to the floor and muttered something Severus didn't quite hear.

"What did you say?"

The shorter man looked right into the Potions Master dark eyes and answered quite proudly:"I wanted to say that it's the cloak that got us out of almost every problem we got into in the past. It's a valuable thing and I think Dem would be very happy to receive it!"

Severus growled and rolled his eyes.

"You don't think, do you? We can't give it to him!"

"Why not?" Sirius's expression answered Severus's question.

"Well... Maybe because if Dumbledore sees it, he would immediately know what's going on... Or even if he doesn't see Dem with it – he would certainly notice that the cloak is missing and being as nosy as he is, he would probably start searching and you know the old man. If he really wants something, there are no ways to stop him from getting it. And though the spells we've used to keep the secret are strong enough to keep him away, they're also a challenge to him and before we know, he's come up with a few new enchantments to destroy our cover."

Sirius seemed to think about his words and Severus let out a relieved sigh. Was it possible, Black had a bit of sense in his empty head?

"But..." Or maybe not.

"What if we give this cloak to Harry and I'll send him another one a few days later. I could tell him I went to visit Lily and James' grave and found it there. He wouldn't see the difference – I promise!"

Severus wanted to howl and toss Sirius out of the window.

"Why, Black? Why make it so complicated? Dem doesn't know about the present, so not getting it wouldn't hurt him. And why should the cloak end up in Godrics Hollow? I think Privet Drive 4 would be more believable... He did cast the charm after Lily died, genius!"

Sirius hid his little smile. He had quite a few reasons to smile. First – Severus was already thinking about more believable scenarios. It meant he was getting into the plan, willingly or not. And secondly – he mentioned only Lily's death. They had been living together for ten years and Severus had never mentioned the death of James Potter. Always Lily, only Lily...

Three hours later Sirius left to visit Privet Drive. They had switched the Invisibility cloak with another one they had found upstairs and fixed the parchment so Dumbledore would think no one had opened it. Then they wrapped a nice green and silver paper around James's Invisibility cloak and added a card which explained that the cloak was an extra present from both Severus and Sirius(they actually had a small fight over whose name would be first and Severus won since he was the 'Dad'). Severus couldn't help but smile as he thought about how Harry would like the present. 'Even if it was Potter's...'

* * *

Sirius arrived two hours later and Severus was already getting nervous. Right after the door closed behind him, Severus pinned him to the wall and demanded an explanation.

"Steady, boy... I was just visiting Lily and James on my way back when I ran together with Rita Skeeter. I think she has nothing to write about anymore because when she spotted me coming from the graveyard, all she could ask was how I was feeling on Christmas Eve, all alone, with no James or Harry in my life." He smirked and Severus let him go. "I guess she wanted to hear a sad little story about me sitting here, crying my eyes out and drowning all my sorrow with firewhiskey. But I told her that I wasn't alone and that there's a huge party going on in my winter mansion and then I asked about how she handled her lonely holidays."

Severus let out a bark of laughter. He had met the woman only twice, but knew exactly how annoying she could be. And though he hated to admit it, he was amused by Black's answer. Clean and perfect way to bite back.

"She just smiled and kept walking. I think she was going to the Brainy Hedgehog down by the river to get herself a nice bottle of poison. Well, good for her – where are the presents?"

Severus rolled his eyes and couldn't remember how many times he had already done so this day.

"We were waiting for you. Kreacher's making dinner, but I think he's almost done so we can eat before and then see what color scarf did Dumbledore get me this year. Go up and change and we'll meet at six in the dining room."

Sirius smiled, ran up the stairs and yelled:"Yes, Daddy!"

A muffled shout coming from Harry's room answered him:"Ough... My brother is a dog!"

Severus tried hard to hold back the warm feeling, that threatened to hug his heart. He was not a man of emotions, even during Christmas Eve. But still there was some kind of lightness in his footsteps if he left the hall to go and read something before dinner.

At six Sirius and Harry were sitting behind the table, waiting patiently. Severus had been there ten minutes before they arrived and when they did, he suddenly seemed to realize something, grabbed his cloak and apparated right from the house, not bothering to use the front door. Harry and Sirius had nothing better to do, but stare at the place he had just been standing, shrug and sit down. It didn't take long for the Potions Master to return and he had company. Next to the tall and dark wizard was standing a rather friendly looking man. The man's eyes reflected surprise and joy and he was welcomed by cheers.

"Moony! What...? How...? Oh boy! It's the best Christmas ever and we've not even seen the presents!" Sirius had jumped up from his place and ran to Remus. Now the two friends were hugging each other and Remus was looking even more happier, though still a bit shocked.

"Hello Professor Lupin!" Harry was smiling brightly at his former teacher and Remus smiled back.

"I told you to call me Moony, Dem."

Sirius was still jumping around, a goofy smile on his face and then he turned to Severus:"Oh! I promise I'm not gonna call you a git for at least a month now! Even not behind your back. You still do have a heart!"

Severus sneered at Sirius's unexpected show of utter joy and childish happiness, but inside the warm thing around his heart tried to turn the heat even more up.

"It's an extra Christmas present for showing where her place is to that blond nightmare of the Hollow. Don't get too comfortable with the idea of me being nice, though. It's the last time you'll see it. I promise."

Harry laughed, watching the two men talk and called Kreacher to ask him for another chair. Remus sat down and as everybody were ready the food also arrived.

After dinner the weird, but cute little family sat down in the living room and stared at the quite big pile of presents.

"I... I didn't bring any presents... I'm sorry." Remus said in a small voice and lowered his head.

"Don't worry about it, Moony. Your presence is just enough, I can assure you!" Sirius answered and the werewolf's eyes lit up with some kind of joy and relief.

Then Harry couldn't wait anymore.

"Lets open them already!"

Everybody else smiled and Harry attacked the pile of shiny-wrapped boxes.

Severus was the first one who managed to unwrap one of his presents. He used some kind of cutting spell, Harry had never heard about and quite frankly didn't care about at the moment.

Harry had given him a silver chain necklace with a snake pendant. The snake eyes were made of emeralds and looked astonishingly real. Severus laughed out when he saw it and thanked his son.

The other presents were a new cauldron and a collection of eyes(beetle, newt and frog) from Sirius, who shrugged and told him he had ran out on ideas; a light blue robe from Dumbledore(as if he would ever wear it); hand-knitted scarf and gloves from the Weasley's(Molly always insisted on sending him something every year) and a new quill from Blaise and Draco. They had also attached a note - "Happy Christmas, Professor Snape! The quill has a pro-slytherin spell on it, so we won 't get bad grades while you're using it." Severus snorted and looked quizzically at Harry.

"I guess Hermione helped them with the spell. You should check it about pro-gryffindor spells though before using it..." He added with a smile. Severus also smiled and did as his son suggested. It seemed, though, that Hermione believed in his housemates minds as there were no spells that could have helped gryffindors. Or maybe she just wasn't slytherin enough to use such a possibility. But there was also a chance she guessed that Severus would control the spells and didn't want to get into trouble. Yeah – it was probably so.

Harry opened his presents and found out Severus had given him the same thing – a silver chain necklace with a snake pendant. He also laughed and Severus ruffled his hair.

"I guess great minds think alike..." The Potions Master explained which earned him a whisper from Sirius:"I wonder why did you give him the same thing, then?" Severus smirked and held back his desire to hex Sirius with something silly and nasty. It was still Christmas.

Harry also got "Hogwarts: A History" from Hermione; chocolate frogs and a red and gold robe from Sirius("Just trying to add some color into this green and silver phase you're going through!"); a book filled with cute little poems from Draco(eyeroll) and a watch that could predict weather and spells used against you in the next three hours from Blaise. Right now it showed lots of snow and no threats. A small note was also added - "Just in case some gryffindorks didn't like your brains or last name!" Harry laughed and grabbed the last package. Sirius and Severus dropped their presents and looked at him with curiosity.

"From Dad and Uncle Sirius..." Harry read out loud. He smiled and asked:"How long did you two fight about the order of names?"

Sirius growled, but Severus told him to shut it.

Harry had already opened the present and was touching the cloak carefully.

"Honestly... The most talented Potions Master in Britain and the worst troublemaker I've ever heard about and they give a cloak for Christmas!" He mock-muttered with a hint of tease in his voice.

But his "family" was still looking at him with intense and he rolled his eyes.

"Okay, okay... I'll put it on..." He threw the cloak on and gave them a look of are-you-happy-now. Then something drew his attention. Maybe it was the fact he didn't see his hands or feet anymore...

"Holy Merlin! Where's my body?!" He tried to touch himself and understood, after feeling the back of his hand, that it was still there.

"An Invisibility cloak! But... These are really rare!"

Now Sirius couldn't supress his grin and nodded.

"Yeah. Happy Christmas, Dem! Handle it with care and use it all the time!"

Severus corrected him though:"Not all the time. We must ask you not to use it near the Headmaster. And it would be best if you would limit the need to use it for only very dangerous occasions. It's not a toy and using it all the time would be like running away from life. Sometimes you have to accept the consequences of your doings and using that cloak could tempt you ignore these opportunities!"

Harry nodded and tried to hold back laughter as he saw Sirius glaring at Severus's back, mouthing things about "Too much firewhiskey" and "He doesn't know what he's talking about".

Then it was Sirius's time. He had gotten a new collar and some chewing toys from Severus("Really, Snape. Very considerable of you!"); a golden chain necklace with a lion pendant(similar to the ones with snake pendants) from Harry; a box of mince pies from the Weasley's and a wand holder from Blaise and Draco("Wow! Wand-polishing! I love those kids!").

Harry had also gotten Mrs. Black a new frame and the lady highly appreciated the green and silver piece of art around her. She was actually happy enough to promise Harry she wouldn't yell at Sirius for the rest of the holiday. Though he couldn't get the same promise about Blaise.

After they had opened all their presents and enjoyed a nice cup of tea in front of the fireplace, Harry went upstairs to toss his Hogwarts: A History and the poetry book to his trunk(for later) and write letters to his friends.

Severus, Sirius and Remus sat in silence and watched him leave. Then Remus asked:"How did you get the cloak?"

Severus rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath, but the other didn't listen.

"It was James's. Dumbledore sent it to Harry Potter this morning..." Sirius explained.

Remus's mouth fell open. He stared at Severus, but the Potions Master avoided his gaze.

"Does it mean he knows? But... You told me about the spells and... Merlin! Some of them were Severus's creation! Dumbledore couldn't possibly know!"

To calm the werewolf down, Severus shook his head.

"He doesn't know a thing. We guess it's a time-mailed package. He probably cast the spell right after Lily died and forgot to undo it after Harry's "death"."

Remus let out a relived sigh and turned his eyes to the flames dancing in the fireplace. They all enjoyed another moment of silence until Sirius started chuckling. Severus tried to put on a mask of annoyance, but failed and let a smile slip on his lips. Remus, on the other hand, looked at them as if they were both mad.

"What did I miss?"

And that made Sirius laugh. Severus attempted to explain, but couldn't and started laughing too. Poor Remus stared at them with utter horror, because right now something completely impossible was happening right before his own eyes. Sirius Black, the Master of Mischief and Severus Snape, the most emotionless man in the world were sitting in front of him, laughing so hard they had tears in their eyes. And it was not because one of them had played a joke on the other. They were laughing together and enjoying it!

"Umm... Do I even want to know?"

Then they stopped. Or... Well – tried to stop. Severus managed, but Sirius still looked like he was going to burst into fits of laughter again.

"Dumbledore would like the cloak back, wouldn't he?" Severus asked and Remus nodded.

"Black went to Privet Drive earlier today and left one of my old cloaks there... But I think he has to tell you himself..."

Sirius nodded and a gleam of joy adorned his gaze. Then something lit up behind his eyes.

"I'll show you! Both of you since Snape didn't actually see it!"

He brought a pensive(a bit bigger than Harry's, but smaller than Severus's) and let a silvery substance flow to the surface. All three dipped their fingers in and fell headfirst into Sirius's memory...

_Privet Drive was as boring as it could have been. Sirius was standing on the footstep of house number 4 and holding his finger on the doorbell. A bony woman opened the door and smiled warmly. Sirius had had enough sense to put some muggle clothes on._

_"What can I do for you?" Petunia Dursley asked and her smile didn't falter._

_Sirius smiled back and asked:"Have you heard about the new order that passed this evening?"_

_Petunia shook her head and invited Sirius in._

_"What is this new order you speak about, Mr...?"_

_"Snack, madam. John Snack." Petunia nodded and Sirius let out an inner laugh._

_"The Ministry just decided that since our country indeed has some nice and normal citizens, we should go out, find them and thank them with a medium-sized award..."_

_Petunia's smile grew even wider and now it seemed as if her already stretched up face would break into two, leaving only her huge teeth left._

_"And I am here to see if the rumors about your family being the neatest and friendliest family in the whole neighborhood are really true." Sirius ended with a friendly smile. Petunia jumped up in a speed of light and offered Sirius tea and biscuits, which the latter happily accepted._

_When she sat down and sipped her tea, Sirius had to listen to her blabber for a few minutes before the action begun. Dudley Dursley seemed to have gotten tired of his video games, so he came down the stairs and stared at Sirius quite rudely._

_"Oh Diddikins! This is Mr. Snack and he..." She didn't finish her sentence, because the minute she looked at her son, all color drained from her face and it seemed as if somebody had put a binding jinx on her tongue._

_Dudley was looking at them with a wide smile and seemed to be completely unaware of his somewhat altered looks. Instead of his blonde hair there was now a black and unruly mess. His blue eyes had turned to emerald green and he was a bit thinner than before._

_"What, Mum?", he asked with annoyance._

_"Diddy? Diddy, what have you done to yourself, dear? You look like... like... But... It's not possible!", Petunia muttered, not being able to look away from Dudley._

_Sirius tried hard to keep his laughter. Before he had entered the house, he made sure Dudley was upstairs. While listening Petunia's non-stop blabber about her "citizen duties" he just flicked his wand and enchanted one of the steps to alter Dudley's looks to make him look like Harry. Sirius could see that Petunia was absolutely flabbergasted. Though there was no way she could know what Harry Potter looked like, there was no doubt whose looks Dudley was wearing right now. Petunia had seen James only twice, but his looks had been burned in her memory. No - Petunia wouldn't forget any of the freaks she had met. Just in case some of them would come back. But now her own son was looking like a boy whose father had to be James Potter and the green eyes undoubtedly belonged to Lily Potter, her sister._

_Using Petunia's panic as a distraction, Sirius placed a rather big package under the table. By the time the Dursey's found it, he would be far gone and they would believe it was sent there by magic._

_Petunia flashed a nervous smile towards Sirius and sayd:"Maybe it isn't such a good time for you to be here... I'm sorry, Mr. Snack, but I have to send you out now. It would be more than nice for you to return tomorrow..." He was already ushering Sirius out and when the door closed behind him, he stayed for a few seconds, listening to the commotion that burst inside._

_"My poor little Duddy... What happened to you, my precious little boy? What did you do?", Petunia shrieked between loud sobs._

_Sirius smirked and left the doorstep, throwing a "Merry Christmas, Toony!", before apparating._

The three men left the pensive, laughing cheerily.

"But what would happen to Dudley? Would he stay like this forever?", Remus asked.

Sirius shook his head and smiled.

"No. The spell on the step would wear off in a few hours, but every time someone would use it, they would turn into a modified version of Harry. I suppose even Petunia herself is now looking like him!"

Again they laughed.

"Although they would have to use the stairs to get back to normal after the spell is gone... I wonder if they dare to walk on it after they have already transformed. It could take days...", Sirius added.

Severus smirked and muttered something about Sirius having Slytherin qualities, but everybody pretended not to hear it.

They sat down in the living room and Severus asked Kreacher to bring them three cups of hot chocolate and also get one cup upstairs for Harry.

After the house elf had fulfilled the order, Severus sighed and looked deeply into Sirius' and Remus' eyes.

"I believe we have a problem aproaching. You both know what's hidden in Hogwarts right now..."

Both men nodded.

"I think somebody is after it. A teacher. But he's not trying to get it for himself... He's trying to get it for Voldemort."

Sirius gasped and Remus paled slightly.

"Are you sure?", Sirius asked.

"No, I'm not sure, Black! But it's a possibility... A pretty huge possibility, if you ask for my opinion. And that's not only bad for obvious reasons. Do you remember the scar Dem had?", Severus growled.

Sirius' eyes met his own and Remus shook his head.

"But Severus... We made it disappear! There's no scar anymore!", Sirius exclaimed, trying to sound hopeful.

Severus closed his eyes and piched the bridge of his nose.

"No. We didn't make it disappear... The charm, I created, makes it invisible and untouchable for as long as he doesn't accept his true name. Even if he finds out he's actually The-Boy-Who-Lived, but wouldn't admit it to neither of us or even himself, the scar would remain hidden. I couldn't get rid of it, because it shared a connection with something... Someone..."

Remus took in a sharp breath and moaned:"Oh no! Dem has a connection with Voldemort!"

Since Sirius looked a bit puzzled by this, Severus explained:"It means that in case The Dark Lord would meet him eye-to-eye, he would immediately know Dem's true identity. And you know where that'll end..."

"Then do something!", Sirius shouted as the horrible truth dawned upon him.

Severus smiled and nodded.

"I already did. The pendant I gave him, wears a special spell. Ever since I found out that The Dark Lord may be after the Stone, I started working on enchantments and potions that would create a shield between Dem and Voldemort. This is the best I came up with... In case there is no eye connection, it works perfectly. Neither would feel the connection they have. But knowing the way he's probably going to attract trouble, I also have some backup's. There's a potion that would strenghten the pendant's protection. Voldemort wouldn't feel a thing even if they would have eye connection. Dem would feel only slightly dizzy and the potion would drain some of his magic. But it would be hard to explain why he would have to take it, so lets really hope he wouldn't need it. Lets hope he wouldn't need any protection..."

He stared at the fireplace, thinking over every detail in the spell and the potion to be sure he hadn't missed anything. Even when he finished and didn't find anything wrong, he still started over to be sure.

The silence that fell after his last words, stayed and nobody wanted to say anything to interrupt the other's thoughts. They were all thinking very different things, but there's was one certain boy, who had captured every thought and detail that flew through their heads...

* * *

**Devy Black**

**Read, review. :)**


	10. Friends arriving

**I feel like I'm some sort of a bad person. I read fanfiction, but I keep forgetting writing it. Well... I know it's really cruel of me to say so, but you haven't been helping either. Except for the few people, who reviewed and gave some positive feedback, I haven't gotten any and it makes me think if anyone's even reading it anymore. I need to know what you are thinking to keep going. Anyways. Since my guilt didn't let me sleep last night, I wrote something... **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The rest of the week went by quickly and soon Harry was sitting in the living room, waiting inpatiently for his friends to arrive. He was almost too sure that they should've been there already half an hour ago, but the watch Blaise gave him for Christmas kept showing strange stuff about him still having to wait for another five minutes. Finally the moment came and the fireplace lit up with green flames dancing around viciously.

A spinning boy with black hair appeared in the flames and jumped out to make way to another guest. Harry had just managed to give a small greeting smile to Blaise when he noticed the other guest doesn't look at all like Draco Malfoy should be. Instead she had long bushy hair and a really frightened face. It looked as if she had just managed to survive her first floo travel and Harry had to remind himself that it probably was so.

"Oh Merlin! That was the scariest thing I've ever had to do! I was so sure I would get the name of the fireplace all wrong and then I would've showed up in the middle of nowhere with no possibilities to come back..."

Harry laughed and Blaise tried to calm the scared girl down.

"Hermione... You would've just gone to another fireplace and the people there would probably let you try again. And there are possibilities to come back even if you were in the middle of nowhere - you're a witch!"

Hermione scowled at him and made a small remark about rather staying in the middle of nowhere than letting herself get kicked out from Hogwarts because the underage use of magic. That made even Blaise smirk.

The fire had died down now and Harry looked at Blaise.

"Where's Draco?"

Blaise just shrugged and looked at Hermione:"I have no idea. He wasn't at my place so maybe he'll be a little late. You know how his parents can be. Of all the holidays we've spent here, he's maybe arrived on time two or three times..."

Harry nodded and gave a small roll of eyes. Yes - he knew the Malfoy's enough to know that they're probably just torturing Draco and making him look like one of their albino peacocks. Just to show off in front of his dad and Sirius. What they didn't know was that every time Draco arrived looking like a real porcelain doll, he first spent a good ten minutes in the bathroom to make himself look more human. Even if it didn't work out, given his natural angelic looks.

Then he turned his attention to Hermione.

"But where did you come from? Home?"

Hermione blushed and looked at the floor.

"Well... I've been at Blaise's house for a few days now. We were exchanging letters for the first part of the holidays and then we found an interesting subject about Charms and he invited me over for a day, but then we found some other interesting theories and had to work on them for a while and today he told me he's gonna come here for a week or so and he also told me you wouldn't mind me coming with him and I hope you don't. If you do, I could go home! I mean... I already told my parents that I'm staying here for a few extra days and they were okay with it, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind me returning home either and I totally understand if you would like to be alone with Blaise and Draco, because they're your best friends and I'm not actually your kind of blood and maybe your family wouldn't like me being around."

All that was said really fast in one breath so Harry (and even Blaise) had to think for a few seconds just to understand what she was trying to say. The few seconds made Hermione feel really uncomfortable until Harry started laughing.

"Don't be silly! I'm sorry it took me some time to answer because I quite didn't catch everything you said at once, but of course you're welcome here! The more the merrier and don't worry about my family - they don't hold any prejudices. And if you want to leave with us at the end of the week then we can always arrange something to get your bags and stuff... By the way - where is your stuff?" He finished, turning to Blaise. The latter just shrugged and said something about his mom sending it later. "You know she doesn't like the idea of me travelling via floo with something that could bump into me and make me get thrown out from the fireplace..."

Harry laughed and nodded. Giving Blaise's past experiences this was highly likely - he had more than once fallen out from the fireplace because of his luggage. After the last time, when he ended up in Knockturn Alley instead of Diagon Alley (which earned a laugh from Harry - "How can you not say it right?"), his mother just denied him of any luggage he could drag along and insisted on sending it via magic or house elves.

All three had a good laugh after Harry had recalled that story and suddenly green flames sprouted from the fireplace and a really pretty looking Draco stepped into the living room, dragging his trunk behind him. His hair looked extra sleek and it's tips were a bit curled. Also his face wore this special clean glow it always did when he had to go somewhere and show off the Malfoy's purity. Blaise snorted and Harry really tried to hold back his grin. Draco was just about to throw a sharp comment about their expressions when he noticed Hermione.

"Oh no! Please tell me you're kidding! Not Granger! Of all the people in the world you had to invite her here and now she has seen me on my weak moment! Please, Dem - tell me it's actually a boggart!" He pleaded, but after seeing the stifled laughs on everybody's faces she cursed mildly and stomped up the stairs to spend the next ten minutes in a bathroom, getting his looks less angelic.

Harry, Blaise and Hermione just smiled, gave each others small smiles and shrugged. Then Harry proceeded on showing Hermione where the kitchen was and explaining which stairs went to their rooms. After that they just sat down in the living room and pretty soon Draco came back down the stairs looking a bit disheveled. At least there were no curls in his hair anymore, though his clean and pale face still showed a lot of his higher heritage. He sat down next to Harry and sighed deeply.

"Granger, if you tell anybody about what you just witnessed, I will feed you some potion that will make your hair permanently green with no way to reverse it!" He tried to shot a threatening glare to make his words matter more, but Hermione only smiled and promised not to tell anybody. And if it was possible, he felt even more embarrassed, so he tried to change the subject.

"Where are Severus and Sirius?" He asked casually and earned a knowing glance from his two best friends. Hermione, though, looked pretty confused and oblivious to his technique.

"Dad is in Diagon Alley, shopping for stuff we could need during the holidays and back in school and Sirius is probably upstairs, curled up asleep. Also - Moony is staying here. Dad invited him over for Christmas Eve and Sirius didn't allow him to leave anymore. But I have no idea of his whereabouts..."

Draco looked content with the given answers and yawned, before asking another question:"Is Mrs. Black sleeping?"

Harry smiled. Of course his grandmother wasn't sleeping. She had insisted on staying up until Draco would arrive and promised not to fall asleep before she was sure that Blaise was also sleeping.

"No. She wanted to see you first."

Draco grinned and jumped up from the couch. He sprinted to the hallway and everybody followed him. They stopped in front of a big painting of an old woman.

"Hello, Mrs. Black! How are you doing?" Draco exclaimed and shared a big smile with the lady.

"Oh! Aren't these my favorite boys... Except for you!" She shot a sharp look at Blaise and continued:"I'm as good as an old portrait could be. What about you, young Mr. Malfoy? How is school?"

Draco grinned and told her that everything was going great. "You taught us well, Mrs. Black!"

The old woman just smiled and nodded. But then her smile faded a bit. She had spotted a new face.

"Well hello there, young girl! Demetrius, why don't you introduce your new friend?"

Harry bit his lip and shared a secret look with Blaise.

"Umm... Grandmother - this is Hermione Granger, she's a friend from school." He muttered, hoping it would be enough and ignoring the eager look on his grandmother's face which said quite clearly it wasn't. But since no one said anything more, she started asking herself.

"Is she in Slytherin or Ravenclaw?" Her eyes were piercing through Hermione and Harry could bet almost anything that she was looking for similarities between Hermione and her own old schoolmates and friends just to figure out her heritage. Blaise tried to answer this time, but he couldn't think of something smart to say and shut his mouth. Draco had already excused himself from their company because he knew very well he couldn't keep his remarks back this time if he didn't leave at once.

"No, madam. I'm from Gryffindor, madam." Hermione answered and scared both Harry and Blaise out of their thoughts. Her answer seemed to have surprised Mrs. Black also, but still having a last piece of hope left, she tried again.

"Oh I understand... Your family must have been in Gryffindor for centuries. Sometimes things like this happen, even if the person really belongs to somewhere else. I'm telling you - they should throw the stupid hat away, it's getting nuttier every year..."

Harry hoped Hermione would just nod and play along, but he knew it was not going to happen.

"No, madam... I'm the first Hogwarts student in my family. My parents are muggles."

As soon as she had said that the world seemed to collapse. Mrs. Black's face took a sickeningly greenish shadow and she looked as if she was collecting all the air from the world into her lungs.

"A MUDBLOOD IN MY HOUSE!! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!! IT'S A DISGRACE TO MY ANCESTORS HOME AND YOU ARE LETTING..."

She couldn't finish her rant, because the drapes around her had closed and her voice was cut off. Harry took a deep breath and looked at Blaise. He was pale and looking at Hermione, who looked more shocked than they had ever been.

"Thank Merlin she didn't wake me up or I would have to start cleaning some ashes..." They heard a cheerful voice from the stairs and turned around to look into Sirius's happy face.

"Oh. Hermione... This is mu Uncle Sirius. He's the son of the lady in the painting and the owner of this house!" Harry explained and saw Hermione eyeing Sirius with some caution. Blaise smiled and lightly squeezed her shoulder.

"Don't worry. Sirius is cool. Not at all like his grape of a mother!" He whispered and saw Hermione visibly relax. She sent a smile towards Sirius and he was happy to return it.

"Now... We're going to have a snack and then a nap and then we'll see!" Sirius said and winked at the three friends.

"Draco is already in the kitchen. Actually he was the one who woke me up right in time to come here so I could save your ears and probably eyes too... She's never been that much of a sight. The good looks must run in the male genes..." He laughed and headed for the kitchens, the others quickly following him.

* * *

**RR.**

**Devy Black**


	11. What now? Your pick

* * *

**TOTALLY AUTHOR NOTE! **

**Unfortunately I can give you no chapter right now. And it's been a looong looooong time since I last gave you one. **

**Some of you probably thought the story is abandoned. Some of you still hoped and sent me reviews (thank you). **

**Let me make this clear. The story is NOT abandoned and it shall never be abandoned. This is my first plot bunny and I have every intention to go with it until the very end. **

**But I won't continue this fic right now. I reread the first part (A Different Beginning) and it disappointed me. I know people grow and writers develope, but this was just too much. **

**So now I have taken down all the chapters - still have them on my computer, but just for reference on how everything VERY ROUGHLY happened.**

**The good news is that the first two chapters are up again - new and shiny, much better, with loads of new information and stuff. I mean - it's totally different. If you're one of those people who have already read it - read it again. Honestly. **

**And review. The more reviews, the more guilt for not updating, the faster the chapters and then I can continue with this one. **

**What do you think? Want to stay a reader?**

**Devy Black  
**

* * *


End file.
